PRESS OFFICE NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS TOPIC OF THE MONTH: 22@BARCELONA AND THE BARCELONA BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH PARK BANK ON START-UP, ESTABLISHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF BIOTECH COMPANIES IN BARCELONA MAYOR OF BARCELONA, JORDI HEREU, VISITS INNOVATIVE BIOMEDICAL COMPANIES IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT MORE THAN 150 LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS DEBATE THE RESULTS OF A EUROPEAN COMMISSION STUDY ON THE NEW ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE INNOVATION SOCIETY BARCELONA’S ACCREDITED CONSULAR BODY PARTICIPATES IN CEREMONY TO LAY THE FIRST SYMBOLIC STONE OF THE 22@BARCELONA “INNOVATION AIRPORT” MAYOR INAUGURATES EXHIBITION “THE NEW BARCELONA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUILDING”, WHICH WILL BE CONSTRUCTED IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT 22@BARCELONA PRESENTED AS A MODEL FOR URBAN CLUSTERS TO OVER 200 REPRESENTATIVES OF BUSINESSES AND INSTITUTIONS FROM 31 COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD BARCELONA TO HOLD 2009 INTERNATIONAL REGIONS BENCHMARKING CONSORTIUM CONFERENCE 22@BARCELONA CHOSEN EUROPEAN CENTER FOR NEW MOBILE AND WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGY PILOT PROGRAM CITY DESIGN AND BUILDING AS ELEMENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND URBAN- PLANNING SUSTAINABILITY, FOCUS OF THE 22@BREAKFAST 22@BARCELONA PROMOTES INNOVATIVE WIKIPEDIA FOR THE DISTRICT, A VIRTUAL SPACE THAT INCLUDES NEARLY 400 POINTS OF HISTORICAL INTEREST 130 STUDENTS AND 20 ELDERLY PEOPLE CELEBRATE SUCCESS OF THEIR JOINT PROJECT TO RECUPERATE THE DISTRICT’S HISTORICAL MEMORY USING NEW TECHNOLOGY PRESS OFFICE TOPIC OF THE MONTH: 1.- 22@BARCELONA AND THE BARCELONA BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH PARK BANK ON START-UP, ESTABLISHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF BIOTECH COMPANIES IN BARCELONA Mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, presided over the signing of an agreement between the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) and 22@Barcelona to promote medical technology in the innovation district. 22@Barcelona and the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) have signed a guideline agreement that establishes lines of collaboration to promote a cluster initiative in the Biotech and Biomedical sectors in order to improve these sectors’ competitiveness in Catalonia. Both 22@Barcelona and the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park agree on the great potential for research and knowledge generation in the fields of bioscience and bioengineering in Catalonia. For this reason, the agreement establishes a number of collaborations on different projects: 1. The PRBB will become a key element in the 22@Barcelona district: 22@Barcelona will include the PRBB’s activities as one of the 22@Barcelona agents in the bio field and in the Biotech cluster. 2. Biotech cluster promotion: The PRBB, given their biomedical research activity, promises to provide support and assistance in promoting the Biotech Cluster that is being created in 22@Barcelona. To do this, the following will be set in motion: Business Cluster; Research, Development and Innovation Centers; Technology Transfer; Specialized training 3. Biotech Cluster Projects: 22@Barcelona and the PRBB will collaborate on: NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 2 PRESS OFFICE - Fostering clinical and university research, technology transfer and detection and incubation of new business opportunities by promoting different initiatives like: The Biobridge22@ project, which intends to promote start-up of new companies and offers those that survive the incubation period in scientific environments like the PRBB a new growth and consolidation space in buildings designed specifically for these activities and in an environment that will allow them to establish links with other similar groups. Entrepreneurialism and incubation: 22@Barcelona will make the specialized entrepreneurial system they are developing in the innovation district available to PRBB and offer them spaces and business start-up support services; they will facilitate access to public and private funding and attract international entrepreneurial initiatives to Barcelona, as well as internationalizing local initiatives through the Landing Program. - Fostering specialized, university and professional training in the fields of science and technology through different projects: Scientific and technological vocation: 22@Barcelona is researching initiatives to foster scientific and technological vocation among children and young people. Corporate university: 22@Barcelona and the PRBB will work together to create a corporate university that meets the demand for specialized training in the medical sector. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 3 PRESS OFFICE - Promoting dissemination, sector awareness, critical business mass and creation of specific spaces, with the following projects: HealthBuilding: Promoting construction of the HealthBuilding, a key piece that will foster the dynamization of the Biotech cluster in 22@Barcelona. The building will have research and technology transfer spaces and dissemination, training and medical activities. Growth and consolidation spaces: There are two main needs in growth spaces: business and research. Regarding the first, 22@Barcelona is working to promote a business park linked to the cluster as well as incubation and post-incubation spaces in the HealthBuilding or other surrounding buildings. - 22@Barcelona will work to improve the institutionalization of the Biotech cluster and will maintain links with the PRBB in this process. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 4 PRESS OFFICE 2.- MAYOR OF BARCELONA, JORDI HEREU, VISITS INNOVATIVE BIOMEDICAL COMPANIES IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT Barcelona Mayor, Jordi Hereu, visited innovative Biotech companies located in the 22@Barcelona district. The mayor visited different companies that stand out due to their innovative and technological character. One case is the Matachana Group, a Catalan company from the sector that exports to 65 countries around the world and develops complete projects for hospitals, the pharmaceutical industry, laboratories and research and industrial centers. Another example is Telemedicine Clinic, the largest telemedicine center in the world and first virtual hospital, which provides a wide array of medical services to clinics in the European Union. Finally, the mayor visited IAT/CRC Molecular Imaging Center, a private company sponsored by the CRC Sanitary Corporation, Hospital del Mar and the Barcelona City Council Municipal Health Care Institute (IMAS), which provides services to the scientific community, health-care centers and the pharmaceutical industry. “With these agreements, Barcelona will accompany businesses in the biotech sector in each of their phases. We will promote both incubation and post- incubation projects in order to foster business development,” concluded the mayor. During the mayor’s visit he also presided over the signing of an agreement between 22@Barcelona and the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), which aims to start-up, establish and develop biotech companies, showing that the city is really banking on this sector. “This agreement shows how much 22@Barcelona is pushing for biomedical technology, making the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park a key piece in the cluster we’re developing,” explained the managing director of 22@Barcelona, Josep Miquel Piqué. With this agreement, the PRBB “will become part of the 22@Barcelona territory in order to participate in the economic development project that is taking place in the NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 5 PRESS OFFICE innovation district. We must transfer the knowledge created in the Park in order to open up business possibilities and opportunities,” said the general director of the PRBB, Jordi Camí. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 6 PRESS OFFICE 3.- MORE THAN 150 LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS DEBATE THE RESULTS OF A EUROPEAN COMMISSION STUDY ON THE NEW ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE INNOVATION SOCIETY Technology transfer, incubation and entrepreneurial jobs have both advantages and disadvantages, including a wide range of responsibilities and professional flexibility but also low salaries and limited opportunities to work from home. For this reason, given than many women work part time, the combination of a professional career and flexibility results in improved work conditions while maintaining professional opportunities. These are some of the main conclusions that were presented at the “Barcelona Women in Science and Technology Conference” (WIST Barcelona) round table, in which over 150 people participated, including national and international experts and representatives of Catalan society. Organizers This conference was organized by 22@Barcelona, the Network of Science and Technology Parks of Catalonia, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation, the Barcelona City Council, Newcastle University Business School, University of Tampere (TASTI), Institute for Employment in Nuremberg (Germany) and the National Centre for Programme Management in Bucharest (Romania). This conference is making Barcelona the center of European analysis and debate on the role of women in the business, science and technology sectors. During the round table the first results of the European WIST project, which inspired the conference, were debated. Directed by Henry Etzkowitz as part of the European Commission’s 4th Framework Program, the WIST project spent 18 months analyzing the new role of women today, when emerging professions in the science, business and technology sectors are changing female roles. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 7 PRESS OFFICE Conclusions of the study The low representation of women in science and technology is a loss of human resources but it also provides an opportunity to hire people fitting new scientific and technology profiles. Women are present in the first stages of the scientific development process, but their presence decreases as the status of the position increases. The study also presented the situation in the United Kingdom, Romania, Germany and Finland, where differences were found in the role of women in these fields. In the United Kingdom, gender does not influence hiring in technology transfer, incubation and entrepreneurial companies; decisions are based on personal qualifications. Equality is also present in Romania, where the role of women in this sector is the same as that of men and professional opportunities are based on competence, experience and professionalism, not gender. In Finland, men have networks in the technology transfer, incubation and entrepreneurial sectors and it is very difficult for women to break into these fields. However, women are taking on more responsibility at the regional and national levels. Finally, in Germany, women have lower representation in areas where the profession is more highly developed. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 8 PRESS OFFICE 4.- BARCELONA’S ACCREDITED CONSULAR BODY PARTICIPATES IN CEREMONY TO LAY THE FIRST SYMBOLIC STONE OF THE 22@BARCELONA “INNOVATION AIRPORT” The managing director of 22@Barcelona, Josep Miquel Piqué, presided over an event to lay the first symbolic stone of the “Innovation Airport”. The main accredited consulates in Barcelona, headed by the dean of the consular body and consul general of Mexico, Jaime García Amaral, represented the international community at the event. The “Innovation Airport” is a 22@Barcelona project that aims to make the innovation district “a landing platform for innovative international companies from the five important clusters in this zone: Media, Information and Communication Technologies, Biotech, Energy and Design,” Jordi William Carnes noted. The idea is for 22@Barcelona to become a place where “born global companies” created in Barcelona can take off and discover how to grow and connect on an international level. “This way, here at 22@Barcelona, we are opening a line of communication with the world in order to attract, create and retain talent by becoming an innovation airport”, affirmed the Managing Director of 22@Barcelona. During the event, the Consuls from a number of countries around the world, like Bulgaria, Ecuador, Haiti, Malaysia, Guatemala, Colombia, Mauritius, Mexico, Finland, Netherlands, Ukraine and Brazil among others, also took a tour of the recent improvements to the 22@Barcelona district in infrastructure and urban-planning as well as in economic, university and social activities. The visit began at the Imagina Audiovisual Center where the 22@Barcelona project was introduced. After that, the international representatives got a first-hand look at the various areas where the five 22@Barcelona clusters are being developed. They visited the Barcelona Media Park, which is the center of the Media and ICT clusters, with the future presence of the Media-TIC building, and the headquarters of Indra, Spanish National Radio, the Audiovisual Council of Catalonia, the Vila Casas Foundation and the Pompeu Fabra University. The consular representatives then visited Diagonal Avenue from Glòries to the Fòrum area, where they saw Central Park, designed by architect Jean Nouvel, where the future headquarters of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce will be located. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 9 PRESS OFFICE Finally, they visited the Energy and Biotech clusters in the Fòrum area, where the future Besòs Campus, sponsored by b_TEC, will be located. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 10 PRESS OFFICE 5.- MAYOR INAUGURATES EXHIBITION “THE NEW BARCELONA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUILDING”, WHICH WILL BE CONSTRUCTED IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT The Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Catalan Association of Architects (COAC), inaugurated the exhibition The New Barcelona Chamber of Commerce Building, which shows the winning project and the finalists in the process to select an architect or team of architects to construct the Chamber of Commerce’s new headquarters in the 22@Barcelona district. Jordi Hereu, mayor of Barcelona, Miquel Valls, president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, and Jordi Ludevid, dean of the Catalan Association of Architects and head of the winning team, attended the inauguration. The New Barcelona Chamber of Commerce Building exhibition showed the winning proposal, carried out by Taller de Arquitectos Colaboradores / Xavier Ferrés, in addition to those of seven other finalists, including Batlle i Roig Architects, CB; Martínez Lapeña/Torres Architects, SL; Carles Puig Soler; Trias de Bes Architecture SL; b720 Architecture, SL; Fernando Ansorena Marenco / Elisabeth Cantallops Dalmau / Pere Ortega Andreu; and Ricard Mercadé / Aurora Fernández Architects, SL. The design contest for the new building represented a starting point for the Chamber of Commerce’s move from their current headquarters, located at 452 Diagonal Avenue, to the 22@Barcelona district. Specifically, the new building will be located between Diagonal, Fluvià, Selva de Mar and Pujades Streets. In addition to the exhibition there was also a series of conferences explaining the winning proposal and the finalists. This cultural program is the result of the sponsor’s interest in disseminating the winning project, and those of the finalists, in a contest that is emblematic for the city of Barcelona. The exhibition was organized by the Catalan Association of Architects and produced by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 11 PRESS OFFICE 6.- 22@BARCELONA PRESENTED AS A MODEL FOR URBAN CLUSTERS TO OVER 200 REPRESENTATIVES OF BUSINESSES AND INSTITUTIONS FROM 31 COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD Managing director of 22@Barcelona, Josep Miquel Piqué, presented the 22@Barcelona district as a model for urban clusters at the International Conference on Innovative Clusters, which took place in the Korean city of Daejeon. More than 200 representatives from governments, businesses, universities and technology parks around the world, as well as ambassadors and foreign diplomats in Korea, participated in this conference. This international conference analyzed how certain science and technology parks like 22@Barcelona are leading local innovation systems in many countries. Participants analyzed globalization in innovative clusters and the future of these clusters, since national competitiveness depends on scientific and technological competitiveness in knowledge-based economies. This event reaffirms 22@Barcelona’s place as the innovation district of Barcelona and helps attract new foreign companies to the area in order to make the city a platform for international innovation. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 12 PRESS OFFICE 7.- BARCELONA TO HOLD 2009 INTERNATIONAL REGIONS BENCHMARKING CONSORTIUM CONFERENCE The city of Barcelona received special recognition at the International Regions Benchmarking Consortium Conference, which took place in Seattle at the beginning of June under the title “The innovate region”. This recognition led Barcelona to be nominated and chosen as the official venue for the next international conference, which will be held in June 2009. With support from the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, international partner in this worldwide project, the presentation on the 22@Barcelona project given by managing director Josep Miquel Piqué received special interest and attention. Piqué was accompanied by Carme Miró, director of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce Observatory and Àngels Santigosa, director of economic studies for the Barcelona City Council’s Economic Promotion area. The 22@Barcelona project, an example of a compact, diverse, balanced city attracted attention in a session on territorial strategies for fostering innovation. The project is known for fostering co-existence of production (businesses), training and investigation (universities) and a wide range of residential and green spaces, making this area an innovative productive district dedicated to the concentration and development of knowledge-intensive activities. The International Regions Benchmarking Consortium’s annual conference brings together a select network of first rate metropolises from around the world that are leaders in identifying common challenges and opportunities in the social, economic and environmental sectors as well as cooperating on joint projects to research and reflect on urban policies. Relevant representatives from businesses, administrations and other social agencies in member cities including Barcelona, Dublin, Fukuoka, Helsinki, Melbourne, Munich, Seattle, Daejeon and Stockholm, in addition to non-member observers from Bangkok, Singapore and Vancouver, took part in the conference. All of the objectives posed for Barcelona’s participation in the Seattle conference were achieved: Barcelona consolidated its integration in an urban learning community made up of leading cities from around the world, delved deeper into city benchmarking, in which it NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 13 PRESS OFFICE already has strong experience (Barcelona Observatory); and also participated in identifying strategic topics to help each city improve its competitiveness. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 14 PRESS OFFICE 8.- 22@BARCELONA CHOSEN EUROPEAN CENTER FOR NEW MOBILE AND WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGY PILOT PROGRAM The latest results of the European ICING project (Intelligent Cities of the Next Generation) were presented at the “Innovative Cities for the Next Generation” (ICING) conference organized by 22@Barcelona, The Municipal Computer Institute (IMI) and T- Systems. The ICING project chose Barcelona, and specifically the 22@Barcelona district, to run a pilot program on the application of new mobile and web 2.0 technologies. Together with Barcelona, two other European cities also participated in the project: Dublin and Helsinki. The objective of this European project is to develop new technology to better serve cities. The conference, which was attended by representatives who are working on the project and others who are working on similar projects all over the world, offered a general overview on cities of the future and shared knowledge acquired through presentations, demonstrations and innovative service prototypes. The coordinator of this European project, John Donovan of the Dublin Institute of Technology, José Bausa from T-Systems and Pilar Conesa, Barcelona City Council CIO, participated in the ICING conference. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 15 PRESS OFFICE 9.- CITY DESIGN AND BUILDING AS ELEMENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND URBAN-PLANNING SUSTAINABILITY, FOCUS OF THE 22@BREAKFAST 22@Barcelona and 22@Network, the Association of Businesses and Institutions in the innovation district, organized the June edition of the 22@Update Breakfast, which discussed the value of architecture and the use of renewable energy to improve urban- planning and environmental sustainability. The event was presided over by the vice-president of the 22@Network, Agustí Ten, and the managing director of 22@Barcelona, Josep Miquel Piqué. Founding partner of Pich-Aguilera Architects, Teresa Batlle, participated in the 22@Update Breakfast, explaining how architecture and construction can favor sustainability by optimizing resource use and creating comfortable environments without energy consumption. Afterwards, as part of the “Innovator of the month” program, sub director general of Alstom Ecotècnia, Miquel Cabré, explained the benefits of renewable energy, specifically those of wind and solar energy. During the event, the vice-president of the 22@Network, Agustí Ten, presented the Association’s new Board of Directors made up of Indra, IL3-UB, Barcelona Digital Foundation, Barcelona Media Innovation Center, Agbar Group, Eureca Media, Pich- Aguilera Architects and CINC. To finish up, the Vice-president of the 22@Network and the Managing Director of 22@Barcelona presented the latest progress in the innovation district. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 16 PRESS OFFICE 10.- 22@BARCELONA PROMOTES INNOVATIVE WIKIPEDIA FOR THE DISTRICT, A VIRTUAL SPACE THAT INCLUDES NEARLY 400 POINTS OF HISTORICAL INTEREST Sant Martí District councilman, Francesc Narváez, 22@Barcelona managing director, Josep Miquel Piqué, Barcelona Territorial Education Services inspector, Margarida Muset, architect Antoni Vilanova, and director of the Sant Martí Pedagogical Resource Center, Anna Vera, presented the new and innovative wikipedia for the Sant Martí district (www.descobrimsantmarti.org). This new virtual space, which is totally innovative and pioneering in the city, brings together nearly 400 points of interest in the Sant Martí district and 22@Barcelona, related to urban-planning, history, architecture, industry and landscape. This collection of points of interest is the fruit of work by the Sant Martí Pedagogical Resource Center in collaboration with 22@Barcelona and the Sant Martí district. This portal aims to become a useful interactive and participative tool for all residents, especially the Sant Martí educational community, in order disseminate the district’s history. Principally didactic in function, this web incorporates activities to be developed with students and fosters awareness of the history and composition of public space in Sant Martí. Since it has been created in wiki format, the new web space is also open to anyone who wants to share their knowledge of the Sant Martí district. Moreover, teachers will also be able to include their own didactic proposals. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 17 PRESS OFFICE 11.- 130 STUDENTS AND 20 ELDERLY PEOPLE CELEBRATE SUCCESS OF THEIR JOINT PROJECT TO RECUPERATE THE DISTRICT’S HISTORICAL MEMORY USING NEW TECHNOLOGY A total of 130 14 to 17-year-old students and 20 elderly residents of the Sant Martí district participated in the “Virtual Memory of the Elderly” closing ceremony, which is sponsored by 22@Barcelona, the Sant Martí District, the Barcelona Educational Consortium and Barcelona Television, with collaboration from “la Caixa”. “Virtual Memory of the Elderly”, a socio-educational project based on the use of new technology, tackles the triple challenge of fostering inter-generational collaboration, recovering a vital part of the district’s history based on personal experience of the elderly participants and introducing these participants to Internet and new technology. The celebration was presided over by the president of the municipal council for the Sant Martí District and vice-president of the Barcelona Educational Consortium, Montserrat Ballarín, and Sant Martí District councilman, Francesc Narváez, who were accompanied by the managing director of 22@Barcelona, Josep M. Piqué. Young and elderly people presented the results of their work as well as the blog they created, which will become another tool for recovering the district’s living memory (http://memoriadistrictesantmarti.blogspot.com/). NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 18 PRESS OFFICE 12.- 22@BARCELONA ORGANIZES INTERACTIVE ELECTRONIC MUSIC STAND IN POBLENOU In order to celebrate International Internet Day, 22@Barcelona, as part of the Digital District project, organized an interactive electronic music workshop at their stand at the Poblenou May Festival. At the “Wireless Artist” workshop, visitors discovered the new Reactivision software created by a musical technology group at the Pompeu Fabra University. Reactivision uses small webcams connected to laptop computers to capture the user’s movements and convert them into electronic sounds. The software was also shown last year at the 2007 Sónar Festival in Barcelona. This way, residents were able to create their own electronic music at the municipal company’s “22@ Digital District” stand. This initiative is part of the Digital District project jointly sponsored by the 22@Barcelona municipal company and the Sant Martí District, which takes part in a number of actions designed to encourage residents from the district to take advantage of the opportunities that new technologies offer to improve their well being. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 19 PRESS OFFICE QUOTES: Joan Roca, “The headquarters of the Oliva Artés Director of the Barcelona Museum of Museum of Contemporary History, in Contemporary History 22@Barcelona, will offer a overview of the industrial suburbs in 1897 incorporated into the global metropolis of the 21st century.” Josep Huguet, “We must create more technology Minister of Innovation, Universities and centers and those that currently exist Business should be grouped into associations, especially transversal ones that are dedicated to information and communication technology, in order to make them authentic airports for talent, like 22@Barcelona.” NEW COMPANIES IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT: SWAROSKI BULL SIENA For more information: 22@Barcelona Press Office: F&A Tel: 93 419 19 86 - 93 507 35 00 • E-mail: filloy@filloy.com NEWSLETTER ISSUE 26 – MAY / JUNE 2008 20